---
title: Dedication and Epigraphs
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/library/lippmann-phantom-public-1925/01-dedication-and-epigraphs/
description: Dedication and Epigraphs, from The Phantom Public by Walter Lippmann.
section: FRAME
---

![Illustration: an interwar radio-and-newsreel intelligence collage with a 1930s map of Europe and propaganda poster proofs.](https://propagandaarchive.org/static/generated/detail/hero-interwar.jpg)

[Library](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/lippmann-phantom-public-1925/) · Book · [The Phantom Public](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/lippmann-phantom-public-1925/)

# Dedication and Epigraphs

This text

- **Work:** [The Phantom Public](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/lippmann-phantom-public-1925/)
- **Author:** Walter Lippmann
- **Published:** 1925

Full details

- **Rights:** Published in the United States in 1925, so in the public domain in the United States (published before 1931); Project Gutenberg marks the ebook public domain in the USA. Lippmann died in 1974, so a life-plus-70 term still runs in some other countries.

Chapters

1. [Dedication and Epigraphs](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/lippmann-phantom-public-1925/01-dedication-and-epigraphs/)
2. Part I
3. [1. The Disenchanted Man](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/lippmann-phantom-public-1925/02-the-disenchanted-man/)
4. [2. The Unattainable Ideal](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/lippmann-phantom-public-1925/03-the-unattainable-ideal/)
5. [3. Agents and Bystanders](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/lippmann-phantom-public-1925/04-agents-and-bystanders/)
6. [4. What the Public Does](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/lippmann-phantom-public-1925/05-what-the-public-does/)
7. [5. The Neutralization of Arbitrary Force](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/lippmann-phantom-public-1925/06-the-neutralization-of-arbitrary-force/)
8. Part II
9. [6. The Question Aristotle Asked](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/lippmann-phantom-public-1925/07-the-question-aristotle-asked/)
10. [7. The Nature of a Problem](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/lippmann-phantom-public-1925/08-the-nature-of-a-problem/)
11. [8. Social Contracts](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/lippmann-phantom-public-1925/09-social-contracts/)
12. [9. The Two Questions Before the Public](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/lippmann-phantom-public-1925/10-the-two-questions-before-the-public/)
13. [10. The Main Value of Public Debate](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/lippmann-phantom-public-1925/11-the-main-value-of-public-debate/)
14. [11. The Defective Rule](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/lippmann-phantom-public-1925/12-the-defective-rule/)
15. [12. The Criteria of Reform](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/lippmann-phantom-public-1925/13-the-criteria-of-reform/)
16. [13. The Principles of Public Opinion](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/lippmann-phantom-public-1925/14-the-principles-of-public-opinion/)
17. Part III
18. [14. Society in Its Place](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/lippmann-phantom-public-1925/15-society-in-its-place/)
19. [15. Absentee Rulers](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/lippmann-phantom-public-1925/16-absentee-rulers/)
20. [16. The Realms of Disorder](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/lippmann-phantom-public-1925/17-the-realms-of-disorder/)

[← About this text](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/lippmann-phantom-public-1925/) [1. The Disenchanted Man →](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/lippmann-phantom-public-1925/02-the-disenchanted-man/)

TO LEARNED HAND

> “*The Voice of the People has been said to be the voice of God: and however generally this maxim has been quoted and believed, it is not true in fact.*”—Alexander Hamilton, June 18, 1787, at the Federal Convention (Yates’s notes, cited *Sources and Documents Illustrating the American Revolution*, edited by S. G. Morison).

> “... *consider ‘Government by Public Opinion’ as a formula.... It is an admirable formula: but it presupposes, not only that public opinion exists, but that on any particular question there is a public opinion ready to decide the issue. Indeed, it presupposes that the supreme statesman in democratic government is public opinion. Many of the shortcomings of democratic government are due to the fact that public opinion is not necessarily a great statesman at all.*”—From “Some Thoughts on Public Life,” a lecture by Viscount Grey of Fallodon, February 3, 1923.

[← About this text](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/lippmann-phantom-public-1925/) [1. The Disenchanted Man →](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/lippmann-phantom-public-1925/02-the-disenchanted-man/)

The Phantom Public, Walter Lippmann. Published in the United States in 1925, so in the public domain in the United States (published before 1931); Project Gutenberg marks the ebook public domain in the USA. Lippmann died in 1974, so a life-plus-70 term still runs in some other countries. [Provenance and rights](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/lippmann-phantom-public-1925/).